No black scientist has ever won a Nobel Prize — that’s bad for science and society

Many in the scientific world are celebrating the fact that two women received this year’s Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. Donna Strickland and Frances Arnold are only the 20th and 21st female scientists to be recognized by the Nobel Committee. Yet in over 100 years, we have never seen a black scientist become a Nobel laureate. Every year, the annual October Nobel Prize announcements coincide with Black History Month, which is a painful reminder that of the more than 900 Nobel laureates, only 14 (1.5%) have been black and none in science. Almost all black laureates have been awarded…